Thread: Tool of the day
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Old 09-12-2015, 01:44 PM
  #6808  
Packrat
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Joined APC: Nov 2013
Position: 7th green
Posts: 4,378
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Originally Posted by PILEOAV8R View Post
UAL allows a backpack so long as it is black and isn't carried over your shoulder...
Guess why? They didn't enforce the rules. Enough guys were breaking them that they rolled over and allowed them. Same thing happened at Alaska.

Pilots were required to wear hats. However, management didn't enforce the uniform reg, so plenty of pilots were leaving them at home. Eventually, if you wore your hat, you were the odd ball.

Suddenly, lo and behold!, the MVP Golds started complaining that the pilots were looking bad and Alaska management decreed the hat was again required. Hopefully, they're enforcing their own uniform regulation.

Personally, I liked the system another airline has (has?). If someone in management saw you without your hat, they didn't excoriate you. They just ordered you a new hat, had it sent to your house and deducted the $75 from your paycheck.

Gotta hit pilots where they live...in the wallet. Now, if you walk around certain mainline hubs, you can tell at a glance who the mainline guys are and who the regional guys are. And it has nothing to do with age. It has everything to do with professional attire/demeanor.

Have you ever seen the movie 12 O'clock High? Its about a failing bomber squadron in 1942. When the CO is replaced, the first thing the new guy does is MANDATE uniforms, military regs, etc. Same thing in the movie Patton.

The theory and message is to get professional behavior and performance you have to start at the lowest level...uniforms, luggage, haircuts, etc. When people start complying at that level, there is a transferance that goes to all aspects of their performance.

So think about it. If you're slobbing around the terminal in view of your passengers, what message does that send to them about your ability to operate the aircraft in a safe, standard way? What do you think about the residents of the house you see with a bunch of rusty junk cars on blocks and garbage scattered throughout the yard?

Please don't project the "junior birdman trash" at work. It hurts all of us.
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